Life is never better for me than after a trip with LOTS of birds and dear friends!
I have SO much to say and so little time to say it….
But here’s a post I drafted on the plane ride home Monday followed by a busy week of soccer, baseball games, viola lessons, and finals for my class….. I’m FINALLY getting a chance to post it!
“The last 5 days went by in a flash.. and here I sit on the plane ride home….smiling, exhausted, fulfilled and exhilarated.
This past weekend was one of those that you want to bottle up and save for a rainy day. My brother-in-law got married (Yay Mike and Elizabeth!) and it was a weekend full of fun times with family and dear friends. Lucky for me, I have a ‘built-in’ birding buddy in the family—so, Uncle David and I had a chance to duck out and go birding in between the festivities! (Yay us!) The weather was not our friend this weekend (as you can see by our ‘drowned rat’ look in the photo)… but we went birding anyway.:-)
All smiles despite the rain! Pouring rain
The family festivities were based about an hour south of DC—which some of my friends would consider the complete and utter end of the earth. Well, Uncle David and I drove an ~additional~ 45 minutes south to Point Lookout.. the southernmost point in Maryland’s western shore. My metropolitan Jersey friends would no doubt feel like they were truly at the end of the earth!
Pt. Lookout Lighthouse on a dreary day.
Point Lookout
Our birding highlights included no new ticks for Mom’s Big Year.. but we had some great looks at a beautiful flock of cedar waxwings as well as about 200 great blue herons that took to the sky while we were there. It appears there must be a rookery and they were spooked by a passing eagle or something. It’s always great to squeeze in some birding with Uncle David any chance I can get! I know that having a sharp, fun, skilled and ‘always up for an adventure’ birding companion in the family is not something to take for granted. Every birder should be so lucky as to have an Uncle David.
David and I agreed the highlight of our morning spent at Point Lookout was our stop at Buzzy’s Country Store on the way home.
And trust me, a step back in time… at the end of the earth… is deserving of a blog post all its own.
Happy New Year! Wishing you all peace, health and joy in 2016!
It’s been a great start to Mom’s Big Year so far!
I kicked off January 1st doing what I’ll be doing a LOT of this year… …..Birding! (Just writing that puts a *huge* smile on my face.)
I joined 18 members of our local bird club at my favorite local spot, The Howard County Conservancy at Mt. Pleasant. Since Friday, a couple of exciting birds have appeared on the scene at various local hotspots, including a Ross’s Goose and a Redhead Duck- both unusual for our area! Check out the barred owl too!
Barred Owl, Photo by Howard Patterson with phonescope adapter